Raw Material For Construction Research Articles

A Study of Construction Techniques of Tibetan Villages in Saiergu Town

Traditional residential buildings of Tibetan nationality have been applauded by domestic and international architectural fields for their solid, majestic, dignified and nice features. Raw materials for construction of Tibetan buildings, such as stones, wood and mud, are all taken from nature. Construction method is original and simple hand measurement method. It is impressed by the people all around the world that a strong building that has not been moved for 100 years is built only with simple material and wall building method. At the era of rapid economic development, more and more traditional residential houses are being destroyed. Traditional construction techniques are gradually disappearing and assimilated by modern construction. In this paper, the author takes Tibetan Villages in Saiergu Town of Aba state in Sichuan province as main research object, and explores construction techniques of residential houses of the Tibetan villages. Then, the author analyzes and collects building skills from the perspective of architecture.

Chemoreaction drying technology: principle, application and roles

The potential of chemoreaction drying technology application in Indonesia is upright due to the abundant availability of natural lime. Traditionally, the lime is burnt and CaO, traditionally called burnt lime or fire lime is produced. Burnt lime is used as raw materials for construction and chemical industry. Adding water to CaO changes the burnt lime to become Ca (OH)2, which has higher price than the burnt lime, and produces heat that can be used as chemoreaction reactant for drying process. The special drying natures of CaO will be synergized during the chemoreaction drying process in the closed containers containing the burnt lime reactant and materials to be dried. The drying process in chemoreaction become special because the drying is held at slightly above room temperature, which is about 35°C. The resulting dry product can reach the water level 2 - 4 %; hence the product will be durable with very high quality. The weakness in the conduction of the chemoreaction drying process can be resolved by the use of burnt lime doubled in quantity and the drying process is compensated with longer time without depending on availability of electrical energy. Chemoreaction drying involves the process of evaporation of water in the material to be dried and heat production by the burnt lime used. The advantages of chemoreaction drying technology can be applied to produce many types of dried high quality products, without losing the expensive essential oil. Chemoreaction drying has been used to drying up seeds (corn, soybean, peanut, red chili) to produce quality seeds with very high growing power. Chemoreaction drying was also used to dry brem, a traditional fermented cake, that become highly hygroscopic sheets with 10 - 15 % water content with very good quality. The drying experiment was also be done on yeast (Saccharomyces serevisiae) suspension to obtain dried form for storage culture. with cell viability of 109/ml and in form of fine flour yeast culture. The experiments on pepper at drying temperature 29-30°C produce dry pepper with 4 -- 8% moisture. The most important role of the chemoreaction drying process is able to maintain the essential oil with the loss only 1.4 %. The quality of nutmeg by chemoreaction drying was much higher, than the sun dryed.

Potential climate change mitigation of Indian Construction Industry through a shift in energy efficient technology by 2050

Abstract. Climate change is a growing concern that is attracting international efforts. India, as a developing country, has committed to reducing its emission intensity of GDP up to 30 %–35 % by 2030. The emission intense sectors would be targeted to achieve climate commitment. One of the emission intense sector is construction raw material manufacturing that contributes 10 % share in the total emissions making it one of the potential mitigation sector. The study examines emissions from the construction raw materials namely, cement, steel, and brick manufacturing and presents two emission scenarios up to 2050. Energy efficient scenario (S2) is compared with a reference scenario (S1) developed based on a bottom-up approach. The results indicate that a moderate energy efficiency improvements and technological shifts lead to a decrease in emissions of 72 MT CO2 by 2030 and 137 MT CO2 by 2050. Further, the steel industry has the highest reduction potential, as the current technologies are energy inefficient. Similarly, the current dependency on fired bricks may be shifted to cement setting blocks leading to emission reductions. Cement manufacturing, on the other hand, shows limited scope for emission reduction that may be achieved through energy efficiency improvements. Efforts towards energy efficiency improvements in construction raw material manufacturing would result in reductions beyond the existing commitment of the Paris Agreement for India by 2030.

TDR-Based Measurements of Water Content in Construction Materials for In-the-Field Use and Calibration

In this paper, a time domain reflectometry (TDR)-based system for measuring water content of raw construction materials is presented. The proposed system relies on the fact that the presence of water leads to an increase of the dielectric permittivity of materials; therefore, from TDR-based permittivity measurements, it is possible to infer the water content value. In practical applications, the proposed system could be used for assessing the intrinsic water content of construction materials before they are poured into the concrete mixture. Knowing the intrinsic water content of the raw materials, in fact, would allow to evaluate the optimal amount of water that should be added to the mixture in order to achieve the desired water-to-cement ratio. This, in turn, would permit to fine-tune and control the mechanical properties of the final concrete structures. For assessing the feasibility of using the proposed system for the intended purpose, water content measurements were carried out on three construction materials, namely, sand, gray cement, and white portland cement. For each of these materials, a calibration curve relating water content to the apparent dielectric permittivity was derived; additionally, through repeated measurements, also a confidence interval was associated with the calibration curves.

Ensuring the Radiation-Related Ecological Safety of Buildings

Nowadays, both builders and public have started to pay more and more interest to such a physical property of building materials as radioactivity. This is due to the fact that on the one hand, in the so-called "nuclear era", the problem of reducing radiation doses for people has acquired a global character, and on the other hand - millions of tons of construction raw materials containing natural radionuclides are extracted from bowels and are used in construction, where the structure of these doses of radiation is sharply deformed. Naturally occurring radionuclides make the largest contribution to the dose of human exposure to radiation. Economic activities lead to a significant redistribution of naturally occurring radionuclides in the environment. The background radiation in buildings is considered to be one of the main types of radiation impact on human beings, since people spend a larger part of time indoors. The radiation control of construction objects is necessary to ensure public radiation safety.

Physiochemical characterisation of Malaysian white aggregate for use in sustainable concrete structure

The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using white aggregate as a construction raw material by determining its physiochemical properties, as well as its surface morphology. The results of a laboratory experimental programme aimed at establishing chemical and mineralogical characteristics of aggregate and its likely influence on concrete performance are reported in this paper. UV visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were used for chemical and mineralogical characterisation, respectively. Surface morphology was determined by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) instrument. It was observed that Malaysian white aggregate contains large amount of silt materials (about 9%). It also contains high amount of SiO3 (62.5%) and K2O (6.94%) compared with other natural aggregates. The surface morphology analysis clearly revealed the existence of palygorskite and smectite materials in the studied aggregate.

A Study on Compressive Behavior of Ternary Blended Concrete Incorporating Alccofine

Making concrete industry sustainable in the present scenario is very important, so as to reduce its adverse effects on environment. While choosing raw materials for construction it is necessary to go with eco-friendly materials. Alccofine (Ultra fine form of slag) which are by-product from steel industry possess cementitious properties can be used as replacement of cement, which are causing a lot of environmental pollution. Initially, concrete mixes of M30 grade - with replacement of cement by 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% of GGBS were prepared. They were subjected to compression test so as to select the optimum replacement percentage of GGBS. Keeping this optimum percentage of GGBS as constant, further replacement of cement with Alccofine was done varying its replacement in the range of 8%, 10%, 12% and 14%. The property such as compressive strength of these mixes was computed for 7, 14 and 28 days. whereas their compressive strength values were found to be less than that of the conventional concrete mixes. This goes to prove that the combination of GGBS and Alccofine as replacement for cement would not be useful in the formation of TBC, and hence alternative materials need to be sought for.

The changes in the structure of mineral raw materials needs in Poland between 2011−2015

Abstract An assessment of current demand for mineral raw materials in the domestic economy as well possibilities to satisfy the needs of the industry has been performed for the period 2011-2015 on the basis of estimated values and volumes of their consumption, as well as indices of the share of importation in the consumption and percentage of production sold abroad. Domestically consumed mineral raw materials have been assigned to groups corresponding to the main way of their usage, distinguishing:fuels, metallic, ceramic, chemical, construction, and others. Complementary to the presented demand- supply relations are trade balances of selected commodities. Analysis of available statistical data showed that the demand for substantial number of mineral raw materials in Poland has been met by imports and this probably will be continued in future. The reasons for Poland’s sustained import dependency of mineral raw materials is the lack or insufficient reserve base, as well as low quality of raw materials available from deposits occurring in the country. The exceptions are construction raw materials and some ceramic ones, as well minerals exported in significant qualities (e.g.: refined copper, silver, zinc, sulphur, lead raw materials, or selenium), for which it can be stated that their domestic supplies may fully satisfy the demand of the national economy. On the other hand, the scale of utilization of such fuels as hard coal and lignite, which represent very significant item in Poland’s total energy mix, may be greatly reduced in the light of EU directives aimed at restricted use of these fossil fuels. The possible alternative is development of the use of renewable energy sources, while in the case of metals - improved recycling of scrap and metal-bearing wastes.

Structural Pieces Rehabilitation with Self-Tapping Screws

Timber is one of the oldest raw materials in construction, due to their availability worldwide, and the ease of using it. The majority of buildings in Brazil, until the Industrial Revolution, utilized this material as main input, rooting most of our cultural heritage in it. With the passage of time, as all materials, occurs the deterioration of these structural parts, where occasionally the partial replacement can solve the problem. This study aimed to analyze the relation between the amount of self-tapping screws and the rigidity product of composite mixed pieces of Eucalyptus sp and treated Pinus sp, simulating the rehabilitation of a structural piece in state of degradation, with the replacement of the degraded portion.

Research of Activity of Natural Radionuclides in Construction Raw Materials of the Volgograd Region

In article results of a complex research of activity of natural radionuclides in construction raw materials of the Volgograd region are stated. The analysis of frequency distribution of effective specific activity of natural radionuclides in construction materials was carried out. It was revealed that the population of the Volgograd region is more exposed to radiation from construction materials, than on average across Russia. The radiation control while developing and marketing of construction materials to is a possible way to decrease a dosage power in premises.

Impact of anthropogenic activity on habitat of Zebra fish (Danio devario) in River Nimmi of Western Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

Uttarakhand is on fast growth path. Several hydro-electric power projects, etc., are being constructed leading to increase in demand of raw material for construction which is obtained by mining of river beds. River Nimmi is one tributary of river Yamuna, where river bed mining is rampant. This study investigated the impact of anthropogenic activity on the habitat of zebra fish that is known to survive in small pools of water for a long period of time. The Shannon-Weiner diversity index of all the study sites ranged from 1.361 to 1.566, Simpson index of dominance ranged from 0.6444 to 0.6805 and Simpson index of diversity (1-d) range was between 0.3422 to 0.42. Various physicochemical parameters of water from different sites did not show significant variation. Population of Daniodevario is falling rapidly which was recorded 129 in August 2012 to only in lower 40s in 2013 at site 2. This decline of population at site 2, that has maximum diversity, is mostly due to vanishing side pool due to anthropogenic activity. Our study shows that there is an urgent need to pay attention to the problem of habitat loss due to anthopogenicacitivty in river beds of Uttarakhand.

Effect of addition of Avanos’s (Nevsehir) clays on the physical and microstructure properties of ceramic tile

Requirements of natural raw materials for construction and ceramic coating materials which basically used clay-silica-feldspar system are increasing every day. In this study, two different clays (white and Ayhanlar clays) from the north east of Nevsehir (Turkey) in Avanos were examined for ceramic wall tile compositions. These clays were added in specific proportions instead of different clays to the ceramic wall tile compositions. Then physical (chromatic coordinates, water absorption, linear shrinkage, thermal expansion coefficient) and mechanical properties were investigated in comparison with an industrial standard tile. Phase and microstructure development of samples were examined by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. The Anorthite formation using Avanos’s clays was quite successful in sintered samples. This study is important work both alternative clay material for Turkish ceramic tile industry in terms of feature of usage of these white and red clays and broaden usage areas and exhibition of Avanos’s clays.

Archaeoecology of Neolithisation. Human-environment interactions in the NE Iberian Peninsula during the Early Neolithic

The Neolithisation process involved significant socioeconomic and ecological transformations. Changes in food production, in natural resources management and in settlement patterns originated a new way in which humans and the environment interacted. The intensive farming systems in use during the Early Neolithic, implying small-scale and labour-intensive cultivation resulted in a low impact of agriculture in off-site pollen records. Nevertheless, deforestation processes are well documented across Europe and, specifically, in the Iberian Peninsula. The review of intra-site and off-site pollen records from the Lake Banyoles area show the limited impact of farming activities, and the causality of deforestation is attributed to the intensive exploitation of oak forests to obtain firewood and raw materials for construction.

Hedging House Price Risk in China

The increasing risk associated with China's housing prices is globally recognized. However, hedging this risk is challenging because of a lack of financial derivatives on China's housing assets. We suggest that the short sale of futures contracts for construction raw materials, i.e., iron ore or/and steel, can act as useful tools to hedge the systematic risk of China's new home price. We first present evidence that there is a strong and stable correlation between changes in China's housing prices and global steel/iron ore prices. Using a hedging strategy model, we then show that, during the sample period between 2009 and 2015, 20.6% of the total unpredicted variance in Chinese housing prices can be hedged by shorting rebar and iron ore futures. We further examine this strategy with an event study based on the announcement of the “home‐purchase restriction” policy in April, 2010. The cumulative abnormal returns show that both steel and iron ore prices reacted significantly to this negative shock, and therefore the proposed strategy could substantially help investors offset losses in the housing market. We finally provide some evidences that this strategy can also help investors in specific regional housing markets, or the resale housing markets.

Inclusion of ‘Green’ Principles in the Design of Pre-School Buildings

The environmental influence of building fund is colossal. Traditional buildings exploit excessive amount of energy, water, land, and raw materials for construction and utilization. This conscienceless attitude towards the resources eventually causes the disruption of the natural balance, which brought into question the survival of human civilization. Current situation has triggered a huge response in the global community, woke her environmental awareness and prompted the man to turn around and return to nature in order to establish the initial state of balance. Statistical data indicates that educational institutions are in the second place from the aspect of energy consumption in the commercial sector with account just over 11% of total energy used by this sector. A great part of the preschool facilities in Serbia dates back to a period of time when there were no eco-friendly thinking in the building design process and construction. Research has shown that these are the buildings of older construction, energy inefficient and often dysfunctional with disrupted the parameters of stay comfort. The significant part of built fund is actually neglected and without planed strategic steps for regular keeping and maintenance. This study defines and valorizes concrete steps and methods for environmental, energy-efficient and economic reshaping in accordance with pre-defined standard, which will provide healthier living conditions, reduce the negative effects on the environment and climate changes and achieve significant energy savings. Applied functional - technical solutions in international pre-school buildings are analyzed in order to identify their positive characteristics and potential. Gathered knowledge and foreign practical experiences are used in the process of creating models adaptable to the areas and needs in Serbia. The main objective of research is seen in the tendency to determine and emphasize the direction of future green architectural practice in the area of pre-schools institutions’ building design. The basic idea is to initiate the new design activity which imperatively includes concept and principles of green architecture. Final results of mentioned process are a well thought out and detailed environmental - energy successful green buildings. With their environmental performances, ''green'' buildings of pre-school institutions, as a group of public purpose facilities, in addition to their positive impact on the growth and development of residing children population, directly contribute to the global energy efficiency increase and reduction of harmful impacts on the environment. The realization of the concept of ''green'' in the area of architecture requires the active cooperation of all the factors of the community. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.12.3.13023

Building and ornamental use of trachyte in the center of France during antiquity: Sources and criteria of identification

The volcanic field of Chaîne des Puys (French Massif Central) includes six trachytic volcanoes, the lavas of which were more or less extensively exploited during antiquity and medieval ages as a raw material for construction, sculpture and fabrication of sarcophagi. Recent questioning on the origin of trachytes from the famous Mercury sanctuary (2nd centuries AD) built atop Puy de Dôme volcano motivated the launch of a program devoted to establish source identification criteria for trachytic artifacts based on petrography, geochemistry and mineralogy These analyses allowed to establish a list of very strong criteria allowing to distinguish each volcano. The nature of the minerals being discriminating in most cases, a small sample size is sufficient for the diagnosis.The possibilities offered by the new classification are illustrated by a reappraisal of trachyte supplying around Augustonemetum (Clermont-Ferrand) during the Gallo-Roman period. In the course of this program, we discovered a previously unknown major quarry of trachyte.

Identification and online monitoring of construction raw materials and biological objects by optical methods

Optical techniques and facilities for identification and online monitoring of construction materials, vegetable substances, and biological tissues and substrates for use have been discussed based on the structural, colorimetric, and spectral analyses of their images.

Analysis of the Factors Stimulating and Conditioning Application of Reverse Logistics in Construction

Waste minimization and recycling are principles of the concept of sustainable development that is now globally introduced. Construction in the sense of manufacturing goods and construction and exploitation of buildings generates a significant amount of waste. Therefore, the developing of the concept of waste management and the reverse logistics is implemented to the construction industry. A statement released by the European Commission on July 1, 2014, indicates, however, the presence of inefficient management of raw materials in construction. The primary purpose of initiatives published in the statement is to increase the efficiency of resource management by new and renovated buildings and also by the reduction of their overall impact on the environment that occurs in all phases of building life cycle. The main idea of the article is to define the concept of reverse logistics in relation to the construction industry and to analyze factors stimulating and conditioning the implementation of reverse logistics in construction projects, while giving the expected results. Physical flow of raw materials and products in the building life cycle has been analyzed. The article discusses the allocation of reverse logistics tasks among the participants of investment process, so that it has become an economically effective and profiting branch for construction companies along with a profitable environmental aspect. Problems that should be taken into consideration in order to manage the waste and raw material in construction in an effective way have also been indicated. As a conclusion, article shows an example of reverse logistics model, that may be the foundation for creating a decision making supporting system.

Urban Riverfront Management

The plight of the rivers in India is pathetic, especially in the cities. Rivers flowing through the cities arepolluted and filthy. They have become dumping grounds for waste. Therefore the health of the citizens is atrisk.Rivers are modified to a great extent by constructing dams, channelization, changes in the flow etc. Thisresults in loss of their ecosystem functioning and natural services to man. The services given by the riverinclude fresh water source, fishing, washing, swimming, sand as a raw material for construction, and manymore. The esthetic use and relaxation on the river banks is an intangible service but important to thecommon man. All these services given by river are free of cost.Present situation demands immediate attention to improve conditions of rivers. The solution is restoringthe natural river system and re-developing river fronts sites based on ecological considerations. Thisinvolves stream channels, stream buffers and banks restoration. The restored river system contributes to ahealthier environment and improves conditions for stream related human activities.Typical plans for redevelopment of a river front are integrated and mixed-use, including public amenitiessuch as parks, trails, cultural attractions like open theatre, wildlife watch-towers, preservation of historicstructures like ghats and temples, and commercial establishments. However, the health of the river itself willnot be restored if the following factors are ignored: alternative solutions for sewage, improvement in waterquality, restoration of vegetation and habitats within the river and along its banks. In the redevelopment,access to river bank for common man is also an important element.Such successful examples are so far seen in American and European cities. It is now high time to haveholistic environmental planning in India.

Measurement of natural radioactivity in Jordanian building materials and their contribution to the public indoor gamma dose rate

This study is undertaken to determine the activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in samples of commonly used building materials in Jordan. Samples of seven different materials were collected from construction sites and local agencies supplying raw construction materials and analyzed using a HPGe gamma-ray spectrometer, taking into account self-attenuation in bulk samples. The average specific activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K ranged from 2.84 to 41.52, 0.78 to 58.42. and 3.74 to 897Bq/kg, respectively. All the samples had radium equivalent activities well below the limit of 370Bq/kg set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 1979). External and internal hazard indices, absorbed dose and annual effective dose rate associated with the radionuclides of interest were calculated and compared with the international legislation and guidance. In general, most of the activities did not exceed the recommended international limits, except for granite and ceramic samples which are usually used as secondary building materials in Jordan.